A Beauty Unknown
by shoesandjackets
Summary: Both Logan Wright and Julian Larson  off whom the Doctor is based  belong to CP Coulter.  Logan, awoken by a crash in the middle of the night, goes to investigate, and finds a lot more than he originally intended.


_The first time I met The Doctor, I had no idea where he had come from, or why, or even how. All I know is that one evening, a big blue box appeared on my roof, and ever since that day, my life will never be the same again. It may hurt from time to time, and sometimes it hurts a lot, but I will never forget._

It was nearing the end of the summer holidays, and all students were slowly trying to get back into routine. Everyone was dreading the return, but one boy in particular. His mother had left him when he was only two, his father hated his... _characteristics_ to such an extent that he chose to send his son to a boarding school, miles away from his home, in the desperate hopes that it would change him. As soon as high school was over, the boy left that house – it was never his home. He bought a top floor apartment in Manhattan, and never looked back.  
>The boy had next to nothing. His family disliked him, his teachers and lecturers were always sighing and complaining about his lack of attention, and most of his peers were more than afraid of him. He only had his roommate and high school friend, Derek, who seemed to at least put up with the boy, if not admire him slightly.<p>

Logan put down his pen and closed his notebook with a sigh, and Derek looked up from his laptop.  
>"You going to bed now?" Derek said, with a glance at the clock. Logan nodded.<br>"May as well. First lecture of the semester, 9am, on dead composers. That'll be a cheery one." Derek laughed, and snapped his laptop shut.  
>"Maybe I'll hit the sack too. Night, dude."<br>"Yeah, you too." Logan climbed into bed in his jeans and t-shirt as Derek hit the lights, and the two students were thrown into darkness.

Logan lay in silence for what seemed like an age, listening to his roommate fall into a deep sleep and dreading the imminent return to college. As Logan was about to drift off, there was a resounding crash just above his bed. Logan sat up with a start, his heart pounding at double speed.  
>"Jeez, what the bloody hell was that? Derek?" he looked over to his roommate's bed, but Derek hadn't stirred. Logan sat still, his ears straining for the slightest noise, and after ten minutes, when he was about to get up, he heard something – a bizarre noise, like nothing he had ever heard before – and a soft landing on the roof, much unlike the previous crash. Logan swung his legs over the side of the bed, slipped his sneakers and jacket on, and grabbed his keys from the counter as he slipped out the door. Logan walked down the hall to the roof stairs, excitement and fear (though he would never admit it) flooding his body.<br>When he reached the roof landing, he couldn't believe his eyes. Somehow, a 1960's police box was sitting on the edge of the rooftop. Logan ran to the edge of the building to see how it could have got there, but there were no cranes, and not a plane in sight. Bewildered, Logan walked towards the police box doors, just as the door flew inwards, and a heavy blur flew out, knocking Logan to the ground. The man, oblivious to this, strolled to the back of his box, and hit it with his fists.  
>"Why did you take me here, huh? Where are we, anyway?" He walked back around, and saw Logan sprawled on the floor, rubbing his head.<br>"What are you doing down there? That's a silly place to be. We could have landed on you."  
>"You knocked me over!" Logan protested. "You woke me up making that bloody racket-"<br>"Ah, sorry, crash landing."  
>"-so I came out here thinking maybe someone had <strong>died<strong>, and then you stroll out of some ancient police box, pushing me to the ground! And I hit my head! I have to learn tomorrow!" Logan paused. "Wait, _we_? There's someone else in there?"  
>"Ah, no," the man replied. "Just me and the TARDIS."<br>"TARDIS?"  
>"This blue box here. She's my TARDIS." The man suddenly dropped to his knees and started sniffing the ground. Logan watched the strange man. He was tall, with dark hair, and for some reason he was wearing shady sunglasses in the middle of the night. Not to mention he was covered in dust and dirt. Logan couldn't help but think that this was just one bizarre dream, and he'd wake up in the morning with a crashing migraine.<br>"Well, I may as well make the most of this," Logan muttered to himself, clearing his throat. "So, uh, who _are_ you?"  
>"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." The man stood up and held out his hand. "I'm The Doctor."<br>"That's a title, but what's your name?"  
>"The Doctor. D-O-C, T-O-R. The. That's me!" Logan merely looked his confusion.<br>"Okay, fine, whatever.," he said, in a frustrated tone. "How did you get on my roof?"  
>"Ah. Now that's a long story. You see, the TARDIS got caught in the whirlwind of an inner space flux, which forced the centripetal action of the TARDIS' relief system to partially disintegrate, which in turn caused a corruption in the time-space organisation process, resulting in her stability to fall, and hence landing on your roof. Oh, that didn't actually take too long!" The Doctor smiled, but the smile was wiped from his face as he grasped at his chest, falling onto his knees. Logan swore loudly and ran to his side.<br>"Are you okay? What's happening? Can I help? ...What?" Logan stared in utter disbelief as The Doctor stood up, adjusted his coat, and flicked his hair out of his eyes.  
>"Sorry about that. Hearts're still getting used to the new system. That can happen."<br>"Hearts? What are you? God, this is the weirdest fucking dream of my life."  
>"You think this is a dream?" The Doctor laughed. "I don't think you could dream up someone like me. Right! Well, the TARDIS obviously brought me specifically here for a reason, she always does, so I'd better go and find out what that reason is. It was nice meeting you... sorry, didn't catch your name?"<br>"Logan. It's Logan."  
>"Well then, Logan, it's been a pleasure. And if ever in doubt, run." The Doctor held his hand out, but pulled it back as though he'd changed his mind, did a sort of bow, then walked briskly to the door and disappeared. Logan stood rooted to the spot. He squeezed his eyes closed, and opened them, but he was still standing on the roof, in front of a blue police box. He held his breath until he thought he was going to pass out. He pinched himself once, twice, three times, but, nothing. He couldn't seem to 'wake up'. What was that thing The Doctor had said to him? <em>If ever in doubt, run. <em>Logan didn't wait another second.

"Wait! Doctor, wait!" Logan sprinted down the last few stairs as The Doctor emerged from the elevator. "Wait... for... me," Logan puffed, doubled over. "Please, I... I want to come with you." The Doctor closed his eyes.  
>"I don't know if I can let you do that, Logan," The Doctor said quietly.<br>"Please. I don't know why, but this is just something I need to do. I sound a bit crazy, but it's just how I feel," said Logan, trying to explain.  
>"You need to know that it might not be safe. Something dangerous might happen, something... fatal. And you need to know that there are risks." The Doctor took off his glasses and Logan was able to look him in the eyes for the first time. He could see true sincerity, kindness, and an age far older than his years. Logan nodded.<br>"I won't get in your way. I just... I have to come. I don't know why..." he trailed off. The Doctor gave a curt nod, and put his sunglasses back on.  
>"Right then! Let's go!" The Doctor strode out the door and into the street with Logan close behind, but stopped abruptly. "So, I don't know where to start. Where are we?"<br>"Manhattan, Logan replied automatically. "Wait, how can you not know where we are, how did you even get here? How did you get a police box on my roof, and why? And what's with the glasses?" The Doctor stood playing with his cufflinks, staring at the sky.  
>"Oh, Manhattan!" he exclaimed. "I love Manhattan! I had a friend who had an aunt who went to Manhattan once. Great place. Lots of shops." He turned to face Logan. "Have you noticed anything weird lately? Maybe any advertising that seems a bit off, or a co-worker who keeps disappearing at unusual times?" Logan merely looked his confusion.<br>"Uh, no. Are you going to answer your questions?"  
>"The glasses make me look famous!"<br>"That was the question I was least concerned about, actually," Logan sighed. "What about the others?"  
>"Not today," said The Doctor, with a wink over the top of his sunglasses. "Let's just have a look around then shall we, seeming you can't tell me about your own hometown? Come!" he set off in the opposite direction with a tall stride, leaving Logan to follow in his wake.<br>"So, Logan, tell me about yourself. What's your life story?" Logan jerked his head to look at The Doctor.  
>"I- I don't have one," Logan replied quickly.<br>"Well, of course you do! Everyone has a life story!"  
>"Seriously?" Logan remarked, hoping the ground might just open up and take him whole. The Doctor nodded, still walking with purpose. "I don't think so," Logan said, trying to keep up with The Doctor's long strides. "That's a long, boring story that nobody needs to know. Nobody."<br>"I might."  
>"You might what?" Logan said irritably.<br>"I might need to know." Logan shook his head in disbelief.  
>"You don't." The Doctor turned his head slightly to glance at the young man walking next to him. The Doctor had never met anyone like him. He was confident in the way he walked and talked, but there was something about him that didn't quite fit with The Doctor.<br>"Alright," he said, "I've got a proposition for you. If you ever feel the need that something ought to be shared about your life, you tell me. And I will do the same. Deal?" Logan kept walking. "Come on, how can you say no to this face?"  
>"What fa-" Logan turned to see The Doctor with his sunglasses perched on the edge of his nose, wide eyes, and his mouth in a pout. He couldn't help but laugh.<br>"Okay, okay, you got me. Deal."

Logan and The Doctor wandered the streets of Manhattan for hours, but neither of them saw anything even slightly peculiar, let alone the sort of trouble The Doctor had been expecting.  
>"Ah! Light!" The Doctor exclaimed brightly, pointing into the distance. "Something interesting always happens at daybreak." Logan froze.<br>"Oh my God, don't tell me we've been out here for hours. Shit! It's already half 7! I have to go to a lecture soon!" Logan slapped a hand to his forehead, whereas The Doctor jumped in the air, his face full of glee.  
>"I haven't been to a lecture in, well, centuries! What's it on?"<br>"Composers. Not even modern ones. Dead, under the ground, boring composers." Logan complained, trying to fix his hair in a shop window.  
>"Ah! Decomposing Composers! I helped Monty Python write that, they're a funny bunch!"<br>"That song was released in the 80's. You must've been about 6!" The Doctor shuffled his feet and stared at the ground.  
>"Okay, now, don't freak out. I'm older than I look." Logan shrugged.<br>"So, what are you, 30 something then?"  
>"Well, older..."<br>"You can't be more than 35. That's impossible. You'd have to have some intense ageing cream for that." He laughed at his own joke.  
>"I'm 1,207." Logan choked on his spit.<br>"You're what?"  
>"I'm not human either, exactly." Logan openly gaped. "I guess this is the part in our adventure when I tell you part of my story," The Doctor sighed. "I'm what's called a Time Lord. Instead of dying, we regenerate. We have the same mind and soul, but all of our body cells are rewritten. That's why I was in pain earlier. I guess you humans would call me a sort of alien." All the colour drained from Logan's face.<br>"I think I'm going to faint," he mumbled, leaning against the closest wall and sinking to the ground. "How can I be sure that this isn't a dream?" The Doctor sat next to Logan, then punched him in the arm.  
>"Ow!" Logan yelled. "What the bloody hell was that for?" The Doctor shuffled slightly further away at the sudden look of rage on Logan's face.<br>"Well, at least you know you're awake now," The Doctor said brightly. "I've had that problem before, I'll admit it. Except that I was torn between two parallel universes, both of which were real, but neither existed. It's kind of complicated. Boy, that was an interesting day."  
>"You do realise that sometimes when you talk, I just stop listening, right?" he said, massaging his temples. The Doctor just smiled. "There's one other thing that doesn't make sense. Not that any of this actually makes sense," Logan added as an afterthought.<br>"And what's that?" The Doctor asked.  
>"That blue box. What is it, and how did it get on my roof?"<br>"Ah," The Doctor said thoughtfully, "well, don't freak out. That's my mode of transport."  
>"You travel in a 1960's police box? I didn't see any wheels," said Logan.<br>"Well, that's because it doesn't have wheels," The Doctor said, moving a few feet away from Logan now. "She's my TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relevant Dimensions In Space."  
>"Time and something, something," Logan said slowly. "Wait, don't say-"<br>"It's a time machine!" Logan's head fell into his knees.  
>"It's too early for this," Logan mumbled into his jeans. "I haven't slept, and even worse, I haven't had my coffee." The Doctor jumped up, and held out his hand.<br>"Come on, get up, let's go get you some caffeine."

-

"So, let me get this straight," Logan said, sitting on a couch in Starbucks holding a large mug of steaming hot coffee, "You're from outer space, you have a time machine, and for reasons unknown to either of us, your time machine _brought_ _you_ to my apartment roof?" The Doctor swallowed half his muffin whole, and nodded,.  
>"That sounds about right," he replied. "And she never brings me to a place for no reason. She told me once she brings me to the places I need to go." Logan decided to ignore the statement that his time machine spoke to him.<br>"And you have two hearts."  
>"Well, yes. But if it makes you better to pretend I only have one, that's okay too." Logan drained the last dregs of his coffee, and sighed appreciatively.<br>"Coffee is good," Logan muttered. "Okay. Well, what are you going to do about this, then? I have to leave for my lecture in ten minutes or I'm going to fail the course."  
>"I was hoping you'd come with me. Just for a little while," The Doctor added quickly. <em>I want to find outmore about you<em>, The Doctor thought. "After all, you can turn up for your lecture yesterday if you so desire. I do have a time machine, after all." Logan flinched at the words 'time machine'.  
>"You want me to come? Why? A 20 year old student with a 1,200 year old alien? That's make a good movie," Logan muttered.<br>"1,207," The Doctor said proudly. "So, will you come?" Logan sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot.  
>"I can't think of a reason why not. If you really do have a t-time machine, you can take me to all the classes I missed last week and up my attendance," he said thoughtfully.<br>"Well, no, because that would be crossing your own timeline, which generally results in either a rift in the universe, or big scary creatures that try and absorb everyone," The Doctor rattled off, "So I don't think it would be a good idea to do that again, I can only make that mistake so many times." Logan stared in shock. "Let's go then, you're gonna love my TARDIS! Oh, I can't wait to see your face!" Logan didn't understand what could be so great about and old police box, but he set his mug down on the table, leaving a tip half of what it possibly should have been, and walked back to his apartment with The Doctor.  
>"Wait," Logan said suddenly, pulling a pen and scrap piece of paper out of his pocket, "Better leave my roommate a note. Just in case." Logan scribbled, <em>Derek, left early – should be back at some point but don't freak if I'm not. – L<em>, and slipped it under his door, careful not to wake Derek in the process, before leading The Doctor to the roof. Seeing the blue box, The Doctor ran towards it, checking it for any signs of damage.  
>"She's okay! She's... she's fine!"<br>"Why do you sound so surprised?" Logan asked. "I mean, sure, it's Manhattan, but it's not even 8 yet, so most of the city isn't actually awake."  
>"Yes, but it's not the normal Manhattan citizens I was worried about," The Doctor said. "It was more the large expanse of creatures that aren't too fond of me."<br>"What, aliens?" Logan said quickly.  
>"For want of a better word, yeah," said The Doctor. "Now, come inside!" The Doctor pushed the door of the blue box and disappeared inside. Logan turned to take in the view. The city was starting to wake, and people and cars were slowly invading the streets. He turned back to the blue box, and pulled open the door. He put one for inside, turned for one last look at his apartment roof, then closed the door behind him.<br>Nothing could have prepared him for the sight when he turned around.  
>"It... it... it's bigger on the inside..." The Doctor grinned. Logan was looking at a huge control room, it was a greenish colour, with a large circular<br>"Oh, I love it when people say that! Isn't it amazing?" Logan fell against the doors to try and stay upright.  
>"<em>Bigger on the inside<em>. How is it bigger on the inside?" he said in a panicked voice.  
>"Time Lord technology," The Doctor replied proudly. "You'll get used to it." Logan didn't seem to be getting used to it fast enough.<br>"I need to go splash my face or something," Logan said faintly, completely white. "Do you have a bathroom somewhere?"  
>"Four," The Doctor replied "The closest is through that entrance there, first door on the right." Logan stood straight, and slowly made his way to the bathroom.<br>Meanwhile, The Doctor was endlessly moving around the centre of the room, pulling levers and pressing buttons here and there, thinking hard.  
>"Why did you bring me here, hmm?" he said, to no one in particular. "What was so important about this place?" The Doctor heard a yell from the other room.<br>"Logan, what happened?" The Doctor yelled.  
>"The lights just flickered, it's fine, I'm fine!" Logan yelled back, swearing under his breath. The Doctor considered this. His lights never flickered.<br>"The TARDIS is wired up in such a way that it is impossible for one light alone to go out, let alone flicker, unless..." The Doctor paused. "You brought me here... for him? But, why? Why is he so special?" The Doctor said quietly, thinking hard. Logan entered the room, patting down his clothes. "You look better," The Doctor said, kindly. Logan smiled.  
>"Yeah, well, it took a bit of getting used to, but I kind of like this whole 'bigger on the inside' thing. Some things have to be different, right?"<br>"Right!" The Doctor agreed, and jumped up to run to the other side of the control centre. "So, Logan, you've got one trip, where do you want to go?"  
>"I can go anywhere?" Logan asked, overwhelmed.<br>"Anywhere," The Doctor replied. "Last week in Hawaii, eighteenth century Paris, the moon-"  
>"Woah, wait, you can go into space?"<br>"Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yes, she can go anywhere. Out of your solar system, of course," The Doctor said before Logan could ask, turning a dial which made a sort of ringing noise. "Yep, anywhere. Jahoo, Estol, home of telepathic plants – I haven't been there for over a millennium – Woldyhool, Morok – although I don't suggest going there, quite a few of the natives aren't too hospitable when it comes to my company – Rigel Beta 5, Arcaida – though I'd prefer to stay far away from there too – Apalapacia, the most beautiful planet in the universe – although last time I went there we had quite a lot of trouble with the different time streams – Delphon, where they communicate entirely with their eyebrows, the possibilities are endless!" The Doctor took a deep breath, his excitement building.  
>"I may have sort of zoned out, because all I heard was eyebrows," Logan said blankly. "What about eyebrows?" The Doctor laughed.<br>"Nothing, nothing. Alright, I'll take you somewhere nice. I'll just fix the universe manipulator and-" Both Logan and The Doctor fell forwards, grabbing onto the nearest form of stability. "We're off!" Logan stood rooted to the spot, trying to stay upright as the TARDIS swayed violently in every direction.  
>"What on earth is that?" Logan yelled over the screaming noise, and The Doctor laughed at Logan's choice of words. "It sounds like you've left the brakes on or something!"<br>"I HAVE NOT!" he yelled back, as the TARDIS stabilised and landed. Logan let go of his hold, and stepped towards the door, while The Doctor fixing his hair and sunglasses.  
>"So? Where are we then?"<br>"I'm not sure, I left the TARDIS to choose somewhere suitable. Go on. Step outside." Logan hesitated.  
>"Doctor, I'm kind of scared. I mean, there could be anything out there. I'm not sure if I'm ready." The Doctor gave Logan a slight smile, and pushed his sunglasses up onto his head.<br>"Whatever race or species we meet, I promise that no matter what, I will protect you. If you get taken away for me, even for a second, I will fight until I get you back with me, safe. I will return you home whenever you choose." Logan swallowed, but nodded. The Doctor took Logan's hand in his own, and put his other to the TARDIS door.  
>"Ready?" he asked.<br>"Ready," Logan replied, staring at their hands.  
>"Then let's go." The Doctor pushed open the door, and the two companions stepped outside.<p> 


End file.
